PRESIDENT’S  REPORT 

1914-15 


To  the  Board  of  Overseers  : — 

The  President  of  the  University  has  the  honor  to  submit  the 
following  report  for  the  year  1914-15:  — 

In  the  last  annual  report  it  was  stated  that  the  class  entering 
college  in  September,  1914,  was  eighty-four  larger  than  the  year 
before.  This  autumn  the  number  has  remained  very  nearly  the 
same,  the  new  Freshmen  being  in  fact  seventeen  less  than  last 
year.  Curiously  enough  the  increase  in  the  number  of  men  who 
enter  is  less  regular  than  that  in  the  number  of  applicants  for 
admission.  The  applicants,  those  admitted,  and  those  who  entered 
for  the  past  ten  years,  have  been  as  follows : — - 


Final 

Candidates 

Admitted 

Entered 

% Of 

Candidates 

Admitted 

%.of 

Candidates 

Entered 

1906 

....  808 

576 

559 

71.2 

69.1 

1907 

....  798 

594 

562 

74.4 

70.4 

1908 

. . . : 688 

529 

486 

76.8 

70.6, 

1909 

....  770 

573 

539 

74.4 

70.0 

1910 

....  786 

565 

528 

74.4 

67.1 

1911 

....  885 

640 

610 

73.4 

68.9 

1912 

....  869 

645 

599 

74.2 

68.9 

1913 

....  885 

614 

580 

69.3 

65.5 

1914 

....  936 

685 

664 

73.1 

70.9 

1915 

982 

677 

647 

68.9 

65.8 

In  these  figures,  several  things  may  be  observed.  Of  the  appli- 
es admitted  a good  many  do  not  come.  Some  of  them  are 
tight  by  their  parents  too  young  — - in  most  cases  a grievous 
r.  Others,  for  financial  reasons,  give  up  college  and  go  to 
rk.  Others,  again,  especially  those  who  have  taken  the  exami- 
nations of  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board,  are  entitled 
to  enter  more  than  one  college  and  go  elsewhere ; while  some  prob- 
ably never  intend  to  enter,  but  try  the  examination  merely  as  a 
test.  Another  fact  to  be  observed  is  that  for  the  last  eight  years 
the  number  of  applicants  has  increased  almost  steadily  while  the 
number  admitted  has  not,  the  percentage  of  rejections  having 


A 


1 


2 


NUMBER  OF  FRESHMEN  ADMITTED 


varied  from  23.2  in  the  first  of  these  years  to  31.1  in  the  last. 
The  natural  inference  is  that  the  standard  of  marking  varies  from 
year  to  year.  No  doubt  this  is  to  some  extent  true,  and  with  the 
necessary  changes  in  the  examiners  it  is  in  part  unavoidable.  The 
fact  that  our  old-plan  examinations  are  now  wholly  conducted  by 
the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board,  and  that  the  papers  for 
the  new  plan  are  to  be  prepared  in  common  for  Harvard,  Yale, 
and  Princeton,  will  reduce  this  difficulty  to  a minimum;  or  at 
least  subject  us  only  to  irregularities  common  to  all  colleges.  But 
a variation  in  standard  is  not  the  only  explanation,  for  the  exam- 
iners declare  that  the  average  proficiency  of  candidates  in  certain 
subjects  varies  at  times  quite  rapidly  with  a change  in  methods 
of  teaching  in  the  schools.  Much  that  is  of  interest  about  the  two 
methods  of  examination  and  the  subsequent  standing  in  college  of 
men  admitted  through  each  of  them,  will  be  found  in  the  report 
of  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Admission. 

The  most  notable  change  in  the  College  during  the  past  year 
was  the  opening  of  the  Freshman  Halls.  The  time  for  discussing 
the  effect  these  halls  are  expected  to  produce  has  passed;  the  time 
for  weighing  the  final  results  achieved  has  not  yet  come,  nor  will 
it  come  until  more  than  one  class  has  lived  in  them  and  passed 
through  the  rest  of  its  college  course.  As  is  often  the  case,  the 
by-products  may  prove  more  far  reaching  than  the  direct  effects. 
Moreover,  one  of  the  chief  objects  in  view,  the  breaking  up  of 
groups  with  a similar  origin,  the  provision  of  an  opportunity  for 
friendship  among  men  from  different  environments,  is  in  its  nature 
intangible,  or  at  least  incapable  of  exact  measurement.  The  im- 
pressions of  any  single  individual  are  likely  to  be  partial  and  mis- 
leading, while  the  total  result  cannot  be  reduced  to  statistics. 
Those  who  have  come  into  close  contact  with  the  life  in  the 
have  not  been  disappointed  in  their  hopes.  The  only  serious 
culty  has  lain  in  turning  so  many  boys  into  men  at  once, 
view  of  the  fear  entertained  by  the  boys  before  coming  that  1j 
would  be  subjected  to  the  discipline  of  a boarding  school,  the 
supervision  of  order  was  not  first  so  close  as  it  has  since  become; 
and  a few  of  the  Freshmen,  to  show  their  age,  were  youthful  in 
conduct,  played  roughly  and  broke  panes  of  glass.  Probably 
there  was  no  more  of  this  than  in  past  years,  and  certainly  it  can 
be  avoided  in  the  future. 


THE  FRESHMAN  HALLS 


3 


The  general  conduct  of  the  Freshmen  in  the  halls  was  good,  and 
the  remarks  of  the  Dean  on  this  point  are  interesting.  He  shows 
also  that  the  record  in  scholarship  was  somewhat  better  than  in 
the  preceding  year.  The  percentage  of  men  eliminated  for  low 
record  was  slightly  less,  the  percentage  of  high  and  of  satisfactory 
grades  was  slightly  larger,  and  the  number  of  men  with  a clear 
record  of  A’s  increased  from  three  to  seven.  If  all  this  does  not 
prove  that  the  Freshman  Halls  had  a distinctly  good  effect  on 
scholarship,  it  certainly  shows  that  assembling  the  men  in  large 
dormitories  has  not  lessened  their  attention  to  study. 

The  age  at  entrance  of  the  seven  men  who  achieved  a clear  A 
record  is  notable.  Two  were  eighteen,  four  were  seventeen,  and 
one  was  fifteen;  the  oldest  was  eighteen  years  and  three  months, 
while  the  average  age  of  the  class  was  about  eighteen  years  and 
six  months.  This  is  one  more  illustration  of  the  truth  that  the 
younger  men  are  the  better  scholars. 

The  Freshman  Halls  are  not  an  isolated  project,  an  attempt  to 
treat  the  newcomers  by  a method  peculiar  and  distinct.  They  are 
a part  of  a general  tendency  to  be  seen  in  all  American  colleges, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  bring  the  strongest  possible  influences  for 
good  to  bear  upon  the  student,  instead  of  merely  offering  oppor- 
tunities to  be  seized  or  neglected  as  he  may  please.  The  un- 
limited elective  system  presented  to  the  student  the  broadest  and 
most  diversified  opportunities,  placing  upon  him  the  responsibility 
of  making  a wise  use  of  them.  The  attention  of  the  college  authori- 
ties was  naturally  directed  to  the  list  of  courses  given,  in  an  effort 
to  make  the  offering  as  rich,  as  varied,  as  comprehensive  as 
possible;  and  the  conscientious  instructor  strove  to  make  his  own 
course  as  valuable  as  he  could.  Save  in  the  case  of  candidates  for 
distinction  in  a special  field,  or  men  who  proposed  to  carry  their 
studies  in  one  subject  far,  it  was  not  the  duty  of  an  instructor  to 
inquire  what  courses  other  than  his  own  a student  might  be  taking, 
or  might  thereafter  elect.  Nor  was  it  the  business  of  anyone 
but  the  student  himself.  The  single  course  inevitably  became  the 
unit  in  college  education,  and  the  degree  was  conferred  upon  the 
accumulation  of  a fixed  number  of  those  units.  They  might  be 
well  or  badly  selected;  they  might  form  a consistent  whole,  or  be 
disconnected  fragments  of  knowledge,  according  to  the  earnestness 
and  wisdom  of  the  student.  If  he  selected  well,  he  obtained  an 


4 


THE  TRUE  UNIT  IN  EDUCATION 


excellent  education,  not  because  he  had  to  his  credit  so  many  units, 
but  because  he  had  so  chosen  them  that  together  they  gave  him 
the  development  he  required. 

But  in  fact,  the  single  course  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  the  true  unit 
in  education.  The  real  unit  is  the  student.  He  is  the  only  thing 
in  education  that  is  an  end  in  itself.  To  send  him  forth  as  nearly 
a perfected  product  as  possible  is  the  aim  of  instruction,  and  any- 
thing else,  the  single  course,  the  curriculum,  the  discipline,  the 
influences  surrounding  him,  are  merely  means  to  the  end,  which 
are  to  be  judged  by  the  way  they  contribute  and  fit  into  the  ulti- 
mate purpose.  To  treat  the  single  course  as  a self-sufficient  unit, 
complete  in  itself,  is  to  run  a danger  of  losing  sight  of  the  end  in 
the  means  thereto.  In  no  other  part  of  the  University,  in  the 
requirements  for  no  other  degree,  is  the  course,  as  a unit,  com- 
plete in  itself.  In  the  Law  School,  where  the  freedom  of  election 
is  the  greatest,  many  courses  are  required,  and  the  rest  all  aim  at  a 
definite  and  narrowly  circumscribed  object,  preparation  for  prac- 
tice at  the  bar.  In  the  Medical  and  Divinity  Schools  general 
examinations  on  specific  fields  of  knowledge  have  been  established 
— of  which  more  will  be  said  later.  The  same  thing  has  always 
been  true  of  the  doctorate  of  philosophy  in  the  Graduate  School  of 
Arts  and  Sciences;  and  for  the  Master  of  Arts,  which  was  formerly 
attained  by  a sufficiently  high  grade  in  any  four  courses,  it  has 
now  been  the  rule  for  many  years  that  the  courses  must  form  a 
consistent  whole,  approved  by  some  department  of  the  Faculty. 

In  the  College  the  problem  of  making  the  student,  instead  of 
the  course,  the  unit  in  education  is  more  difficult  than  in  the  other 
parts  of  the  University,  because  general  education  is  more  in- 
tangible, more  vague,  less  capable  of  precise  analysis  and  definition, 
than  training  for  a profession.  Nevertheless,  in  the  College,  some 
significant  steps  have  been  taken  which  tend  in  this  direction. 
The  first  was  the  requirement  that  every  student  must  concentrate 
six  of  his  seventeen  courses  in  some  definite  field,  must  distribute 
six  more  among  the  other  subjects  of  knowledge,  and  must  do  so 
after  consulting  an  instructor  appointed  to  advise  him.  The  exact 
prescriptions  may  not  be  perfect,  nor  in  their  final  form.  Experi- 
ence may  well  lead  to  changes,  but  the  intent  is  good,  to  develop 
and  expand  the  mind  of  the  student  as  an  individual,  as  in  himself 
the  object  of  education.  So  far  as  the  rule  affects  the  care  with 


THE  CONCENTRATION  RULE 


5 


which  the  student  selects  his  courses,  there  has  certainly  been  a 
gain,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  requirement  has  made  his 
choice  more  thoughtful  and  serious  than  before.  The  Committee 
on  the  Choice  of  Electives  makes  exceptions  freely  in  the  case  of 
earnest  students,  and  it  is  a significant  fact  that  although  the 
members  of  the  Committee  hold  very  divergent  views  upon  the 
principles  involved,  they  are  almost  invariably  unanimous  on  the 
question  of  allowing  an  exception  in  any  particular  case. 

The  rule  of  concentration,  coupled  with  the  provision  that  not 
more  than  two  of  the  six  courses  shall  be  of  an  elementary  character, 
is  intended  to  compel  every  man  to  study  some  subject  with 
thoroughness,  and  acquire  a systematic  knowledge  thereof.  Cer- 
tain departments  have  so  arranged  their  sequence  of  courses  that 
this  result  is  fairly  well  attained;  but  in  others  where  the  offering 
is  large,  and  the  nature  of  the  subject  is  not  (as  it  is  in  Mathematics, 
for  example,  or  the  physical  sciences)  such  that  a mastery  of  one 
thing  is  indispensable  for  the  study  of  another,  it  is  still  possible 
for  a student  to  elect  six  courses  in  the  outlying  parts  of  the  field 
which  have  little  connection  with  one  another  and  do  not  form  a 
systematic  whole.  This  possibility  is  attractive  to  undergraduates 
seeking  easy  courses,  whose  object  is  not  so  much  to  obtain  as  to 
evade  an  education.  Of  late  years,  indeed,  many  easy  courses  have 
been  made  more  serious,  whereby  the  minimum  work  which 
shirkers  must  do  for  a degree  has  been  sensibly  raised,  to  the  great 
benefit  of  the  college  as  an  educational  institution,  and  incidentally 
with  the  result  of  increasing  the  respect  for  high  achievement  in 
college  scholarship.  As  the  requirements  in  various  subjects  are 
stiffened  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  flocking  of  students  from 
one  department  to  another. 

The  second  step  in  treating  the  student,  instead  of  the  course, 
as  the  unit  in  education,  was  taken  by  the  Division  of  History, 
Government,  and  Economics,  when,  and  with  the  approval  of  the 
Faculty,  it  set  up  the  requirement  of  a general  examination  at 
graduation  for  students  concentrating  in  that  division.  The  exami- 
nation, which  is  entrusted  to  a committee  representing  the  three 
departments  within  the  division,  is  to  be  distinct  from  that  in  the 
courses  elected,  and  is  to  include  not  only  the  ground  covered  in 
them,  but  also  the  general  field  with  which  they  have  dealt,  and 
the  knowledge  needed  to  connect  them.  This  is  a marked  depart- 


6 


GENERAL  EXAMINATIONS 


ure  from  the  plan  of  earning  a degree  by  scoring  courses;  and  it 
will  take  time  to  adjust  men’s  conceptions  of  education  to  a basis 
new  to  the  American  college,  though  familiar  in  every  European 
university.  To  assist  the  students  in  preparing  themselves  for  the 
general  examination  each  of  them  at  the  beginning  of  his  Sophomore 
year  is  assigned  to  the  charge  of  a tutor  who  confers  with  him  about 
his  work  and  guides  his  reading  outside  of  that  required  in  the 
courses.  As  the  plan  could  be  applied  only  to  men  entering  after 
it  was  established,  the  first  examinations  will  be  held  next  spring, 
and  then  only  for  men  who  graduate  in  three  years.  In  the 
Divinity  School,  where  the  course  for  the  Masters  and  Doctors 
degrees  is  shorter,  a general  examination  has  already  been  put 
into  operation  with  gratifying  results. 

A third  step  has  been  taken  this  autumn  by  a vote  of  the  Faculty 
providing  that  the  courses  elected  by  a student  for  concentration 
in  History  and  Literature  must  be  approved  by  the  Committee  on 
Degrees  with  Distinction  in  that  field.  This  has  always  been  true 
of  candidates  for  distinction  under  this  committee,  and  in  fact 
the  field  is  one  that  would  present  little  unity  if  the  courses  chosen 
were  unrelated.  But  that  the  combination  of  courses  by  other 
students  should  require  approval  is  an  innovation  which  shows  that 
in  a subject  where  the  liberty  of  choice  is  peculiarly  liable  to  abuse, 
the  Faculty  is  prepared  to  require  a consistent  programme  of  study, 
with  a view  to  giving  students  an  education  rational  as  a whole. 
Moreover,  departments  and  committees,  which  do  not  wish  to 
limit  the  choice  of  the  students  concentrating  in  their  field  to 
combinations  of  courses  approved  by  them  beforehand,  sometimes 
take  charge  of  his  work  in  the  subject  and  really  oversee  it  at  every 
stage.  They  do  in  fact  act  as  his  advisers,  and  can  often  do  so 
better  than  the  instructor  specially  appointed  to  advise  him.  The 
adviser  so  appointed  frequently  takes  a very  careful  interest  in  the 
development  of  a man’s  work  throughout  his  college  course,  and 
whenever  a man  shows  on  entering  college  any  strong  special 
interest,  Professor  Parker  always  tries  to  appoint  for  him  an  adviser 
who  will  sympathize  with  that  interest.  Nevertheless,  the  depart- 
ments and  committees  which  pay  close  attention  to  the  choice  of 
courses  by  each  man  concentrating  in  their  field  add  much  to  the 
thoroughness  of  his  education,  and  have  adopted  a principle  that 
might  with  profit  be  more  widely  extended.  It  would  be  well  if 


CREDIT  BY  COURSES 


7 


every  department  insisted  on  having  a list,  not  merely  of  candidates 
for  distinction,  but  of  all  students  concentrating  in  its  special  field. 

Another  departure  from  the  practice  of  counting  by  courses  is 
the  requirement  that  every  student  shall  be  able  to  read  ordinary 
French  or  German  at  sight,  and  show  it  by  doing  so  orally.  This 
has  proved  to  be  a very  different  thing  from  taking  and  passing  a 
course.  It  is  a test  of  capacity  acquired,  not  of  tasks  performed. 
It  is  in  this  one  subject  a measure  of  the  man  and  of  his  educa- 
tion, not  a unit  of  credit  accumulated.  Not  less  important  is  the 
Committee  on  the  Use  of  English  by  Students,  appointed  in 
consequence  of  a request  from  the  Board  of, Overseers.  The  in- 
vestigation by  that  body  showed  that  students  who  had  done  their 
required  English  composition  often  could  not  or  would  not  express 
themselves  creditably  in  their  later  written  work.  A man  who 
cannot  write  his  mother  tongue  grammatically,  lucidly,  and  with  a 
reasonably  fair  style,  or  who  does  not  think  it  worth  while  to  do  so, 
is  not  an  educated  man,  no  matter  how  many  courses  he  may  have 
scored,  or  how  proficient  he  may  be  in  a special  field.  In  this 
connection  it  may  be  noted  that  the  supervision  of  the  use  of 
English  applies  to  the  Graduate  School  as  well  as  to  the  College. 

All  these  changes  are  in  a direction  away  from  the  mechanical 
view  of  education  which  is  the  bane  of  the  American  system.  We 
see  that  view  displayed  everywhere,  prominently  at  the  present 
day  in  efforts  to  raise  the  standard  of  pre-medical  training.  This 
is  commonly  expressed  in  terms  of  courses  taken  and  credits 
obtained,  not  of  knowledge  acquired.  If  a young  man  has  passed 
a course  and  learned  little  or  nothing,  or  forgotten  all  he  knew, 
he  fulfils  the  requirement;  but  if  he  has  mastered  the  subject  in 
any  other  way,  and  can  prove  it  by  examination,  it  avails  him 
nothing.  Counting  the  credits  scored  in  courses  is,  no  doubt,  the 
easiest  way  to  apply  a requirement,  but  it  is  not  a sound  system 
of  education.  What  a man  is,  what  knowledge  he  possesses,  and 
what  use  he  can  make  of  it,  is  the  real  measure  of  his  education. 
All  persons  who  desire  to  improve  the  American  system  from  the 
common  school  upward  ought  to  strive  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  end 
in  the  means,  not  to  let  the  machinery  divert  attention  from  the 
product. 

One  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  the  College  without  considering 
a matter  prominent  in  men’s  minds  at  the  present  day  — that  of 


8 


MILITARY  TRAINING 


military  training.  Our  colleges  are  obviously  not  military  schools 
and  cannot  properly  make  themselves  such.  But  it  does  not  follow 
that  they  ought  to  treat  preparation  for  national  defense  as  a stu- 
dent activity  with  which  they  have  no  concern.  The  experience  of 
the  present  war  seems  to  have  shown  that  in  a country  that  has 
not  universal  compulsory  service  of  some  kind  one  of  the  most 
pressing  needs  in  case  of  war  is  an  ample  supply  of  trained  officers, 
and  there  is  no  better  material  for  this  purpose  than  the  students 
in  our  colleges.  Moreover,  the  aim  of  a country  which  desires  to 
remain  at  peace,  but  must  be  ready  to  defend  itself,  should  be  to 
train  a large  body  of  junior  officers  who  can  look  forward  to  no 
career  in  the  army,  and  can  have  no  wish  for  war,  yet  who  will  be 
able  to  take  their  places  in  the  field  when  needed.  The  best  way 
of  reaching  such  a result,  and  the  one  least  wasteful  to  the  tax- 
payer and  to  the  men  themselves,  is  to  give  a sufficient  training  to 
college  students  who  will  thereafter  be  engaged  in  civil  professions 
and  business.  If  this  is  the  duty  of  the  state  the  colleges  ought 
to  promote  it  so  far  as  they  properly  can. 

Military  authorities  are  of  opinion  that  training  enough  to  fit  a 
man  for  a lieutenant’s  commission  in  case  of  war  can  be  given  in  a 
portion  of  the  summer  vacations,  supplemented  by  military  in- 
struction in  term  time.  The  summer  vacations  are  now  too  often 
wasted,  and  one  of  the  problems  confronting  American  colleges  is 
how  that  time  can  be  better  spent  by  students  who  are  not  obliged 
to  use  it  to  earn  their  way  through  college.  In  no  other  period  of 
adult  fife  does  a man,  who  is  not  a drone,  expect  to  spend  between 
three  and  four  months  in  recreation.  Nothing  has  yet  appeared 
so  valuable  for  the  student,  or  of  greater  service  to  the  community, 
than  five  weeks  at  the  summer  military  camps  held  for  the  last 
three  years’.  Carried  on  as  yet  with  very  little  expense  to  the 
government,  they  have  been  insufficient  in  equipment  in  the 
different  arms  and  services  with  the  use  of  which  an  officer  should 
be  familiar;  but  within  their  limited  means  they  have  been  ad- 
mirably conducted,  and  the  progress  of  the  students  has  been 
eminently  satisfactory  to  the  officers  in  charge. 

The  question  of  military  instruction  in  term  time  is  more  diffi- 
cult. A popular  impression  still  survives  that  drill,  comprising 
the  manual  of  arms  and  evolutions  in  small  bodies,  is  the  main 
point  in  military  training.  It  is,  of  course,  essential,  but  it  forms 


DRILL  AND  STUDY 


9 


a very  minute  part  of  the  education  of  an  officer;  and  it  is  quickly 
learned,  as  anyone  who  has  visited  the  students’  camps  must  have 
observed.  Moreover,  it  had  much  better  be  taught  under  military 
conditions  like  those  in  a camp  or  in  the  militia,  rather  than  in 
student  organizations  at  a college  which  is  not  primarily  a military 
school.  Constant  drill  in  a hall  or  on  an  athletic  field  is  artificial, 
monotonous  and  wearisome,  tending  to  produce  an  aversion  for 
military  training  instead  of  an  interest  in  the  real  problems  with 
which  an  officer  must  deal.  It  would  be  wise,  therefore,  for  our 
civilian  colleges  to  leave  drill  entirely  to  the  summer  camps  and 
the  militia,  and  confine  such  military  instruction  as  may  be  given 
in  term  time  to  those  elements  of  an  officer’s  duty  which  are 
appropriate  to  a college  curriculum.  There  are  many  of  these 
which  are  quite  as  well  adapted  for  intellectual  study  as  other 
subjects  taught  in  college.  Such  are:  military  history,  including 
the  changes  in  tactics  caused  by  the  increased  range  and  precision 
of  weapons;  the  functions  of  infantry,  cavalry,  artillery,  and  air- 
craft in  modern  war;  the  taking  advantage  of  terrain  in  war,  and 
the  use  of  topographical  maps;  the  construction  of  field  defenses 
and  the  methods  of  attacking  them;  the  mechanism  of  moving 
large  bodies  of  troops;  mobilization,  with  the  collection  and  dis- 
tribution of  supplies.  All  these  things  can  be  taught  like  other 
college  subjects,  by  lectures,  reading,  discussion  and  laboratory 
work,  the  last  including  problems  with  maps  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
Geology,  field  work  in  the  neighboring  country.  A couple  of  courses 
on  these  subjects  following  a couple  of  summers  at  the  camps  should 
be  enough  to  qualify  a man  of  ordinary  capacity  to  be  enrolled  as 
a subaltern  in  the  reserve. 

A plan  of  this  kind  requires  cooperation  between  the  colleges 
and  the  national  military  authorities.  The  government  must 
maintain  the  camps  on  the  necessary  scale;  supply  the  officers  for 
instruction  there,  as  well  as  for  teachers  — though  by  no  means 
the  only  teachers  — in  the  college  courses.  It  must  also  frame  a 
comprehensive  plan  of  training  which  will  be  elastic  enough  to  be 
adapted  to  the  curriculum  of  the  college;  and  it  must  give  a 
recognition  in  the  form  of  a list  of  reserve  officers  to  men  who  have 
finished  the  training  satisfactorily. 

The  colleges,  on  their  part,  must  recognize  the  training  in  some 
way;  for  the  courses  of  instruction  in  term  time  must  clearly  be 


10 


COURSES  IN  MILITARY  SCIENCE 


under  the  supervision  of  the  college  authorities,  and  if  they  are  to 
be  of  real  value  they  must  be  treated  as  seriously  as  other  courses. 
Whatever  may  be  possible  in  those  institutions  which  received 
under  the  Morrill  Act  grants  of  land  on  condition  of  maintaining 
military  training,  other  colleges  cannot  now  make  such  training 
compulsory  for  their  students;  nor,  so  long  as  military  service  in 
the  country  is  voluntary,  is  it  desirable  that  they  should  do  so. 
But  if  military  instruction  is  not  required,  the  only  academic 
recognition  that  can  be  given  to  it  consists  in  treating  it  as  a part 
of  the  elective  work  that  may  be  taken  for  a degree.  This  involves 
a serious  question,  and  one  that  may  well  provoke  a difference  of 
opinion.  Courses  in  military  science  and  the  art  of  war,  offered 
in  term  time  and  comprising  no  drill  or  physical  training  of  any 
kind,  are  obviously  fit  to  be  included  in  the  list  of  regular  electives. 
If  not,  it  is  because  they  fail  in  their  object  of  serious  instruction 
in  a subject  requiring  study  and  thought.  But  the  camps  are  also 
a necessary  part  of  the  officer’s  training;  and  yet  there  are  distinct 
objections  to  treating  the  work  there,  in  large  part  physical  in 
character,  as  equivalent  to  academic  study.  The  fact  that  it  in- 
volves effort,  persistence  and  discipline  is  beside  the  mark.  So  do 
foot-ball,  rowing,  hunting,  and  many  other  kinds  of  sport,  to  say 
nothing  of  work  which  poor  students  do  to  support  themselves  both 
in  term  time  and  vacation,  but  these  do  not  contribute  directly  to 
the  education  for  which  a degree  is  conferred.  To  treat  drill  in 
any  form  or  to  any  extent  as  an  elective  substitute  for  Literature, 
History,  Science,  or  Mathematics  would  seem  to  be  proceeding  on 
a false  principle  and  introducing  a dangerous  precedent.  We  have 
always  refused  to  entertain  proposals  that  physical  exercise  should 
be  treated  in  any  way  as  an  elective  course ; and  one  would  hardly 
suggest  it  in  the  case  of  military  drill  were  that  not  a service  to 
the  state  which  we  are  anxious  to  cultivate.  But  if  we  allow  it  to 
count  on  this  ground,  why  should  we  not  count  also  service  in  the 
militia,  in  teaching  school,  in  public  charities  of  many  kinds.  In 
practice  it  will  be  found  very  hard  to  draw  the  line. 

On  the  other  hand  the  training  received  in  the  camps  or  else- 
where is  an  essential  basis  for  the  courses  in  military  science  which 
supplement  it.  If  it  must  not  of  necessity  precede  them  in  time, 
it  had  better  do  so,  and  may  well  be  treated  as  a needful  prepara- 
tion for  those  courses.  Acting  upon  this  principle,  the  Faculty  has 


TRAINING  OF  SPECIALISTS 


11 


recently  voted  that  a course  in  military  science  to  be  given  by 
officers  of  the  army  during  the  second  half  of  the  current  year  may 
be  counted  for  a degree,  but  only  by  students  who  have  attended 
one  of  the  five-week  summer  camps,  or  had  sufficient  training  in 
the  militia.  The  effect  of  this  in  encouraging  undergraduates  to 
attend  the  camps  is  much  the  same  as  it  would  be  if  the  camp, 
coupled  with  academic  instruction  in  term  time,  were  treated  as 
the  equivalent  of  a college  course.  The  difference  is  merely  one  of 
form,  and  yet  the  form  is  not  unimportant.  The  precedent  of  count- 
ing anything  involving  a considerable  amount  of  physical  training 
is  avoided;  and  with  it  possible  difficulties  in  the  future  when  the 
demand  for  military  preparedness  is  less  insistent  and  a demand  for 
encouraging  something  else  has  arisen.  In  treating  the  camps  as  a 
required  preliminary  for  profiting  by  the  courses  in  military  science, 
we  are  acting  on  a safe  principle  that  involves  no  danger  of  being 
extended  beyond  the  case  to  which  it  is  applied. 

A further  development  of  courses  in  military  science  must 
depend  very  much  upon  the  attitude  of  the  War  Department  and 
also  of  the  Navy,  for  the  fleet  in  this  respect  is  not  less  capable 
than  the  army  of  receiving  valuable  recruits  from  the  student  body. 
A modern  battleship  is  a vast  machine-shop,  and  electrical  or 
mechanical  engineers  who  have  for  a couple  of  summers  spent  five 
weeks  afloat  in  naval  study  and  practice,  could  in  case  of  war  be 
made  useful  at  once  as  junior  officers,  and  relieve  regular  officers 
who  will  be  badly  needed  for  work  elsewhere.  Formerly,  naval 
officers  could  be  drawn  in  large  numbers  from  the  mercantile 
marine,  but  now  there  is  no  such  source  of  supply,  and  it  would 
seem  wise  to  train  a large  number  of  reserve  officers  among  our 
students,  especially  among  those  who  are  devoting  themselves  to 
engineering.  There  are,  indeed,  many  special  aptitudes  that  ought 
to  be  utilized  in  case  of  war,  and  could  be  used  with  little  additional 
training  if  the  plans  were  carefully  prepared.  Chemists,  for 
example,  could  without  much  effort  learn  what  would  be  needed 
to  fit  them  for  work  in  a government  factory  of  ammunition  if 
war  broke  out.  A sudden  mobilization  would  call  for  special 
qualifications  of  all  kinds  on  a far  larger  scale  than  the  regular 
army  could  furnish;  men  to  assist  in  transportation  of  troops  by 
land  and  sea;  men  to  collect  supplies,  to  forward  them  and  to 
distribute  them;  surgeons  and  nurses  to  man  hospitals;  and  so  on 


12 


THE  WIDENER  LIBRARY 


through  the  whole  range  of  military  action.  To  recruit  and 
organize  such  men  in  a hurry  would  be  an  almost  impossible  task, 
and  would  certainly  entail  perilous  confusion.  Officers  for  all  these 
purposes  ought  to  be  enlisted  beforehand,  and  receive  so  much 
instruction  as  is  needed  to  fit  them  for  the  duties  peculiar  to  mili- 
tary operations.  They  ought  to  be  recruited  young,  and  in  this, 
as  well  as  in  giving  the  instruction  required,  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities could  be  of  very  great  assistance  to  the  nation.  Even 
when  the  present  enthusiasm  for  preparedness  has  spent  its  force, 
it  is  probable  that,  without  compulsion,  many  students  will  be 
ready  to  undertake  the  training  if  adequate  recognition  is  given 
by  the  military  authorities  and  by  the  colleges.  At  Harvard  we 
have  long  had  a large  number  of  undergraduates  in  the  militia. 
This  number  ought  not  to  be  diminished.  It  ought  to  be  possible, 
and  during  the  last  year  it  has  been  made  less  difficult,  to  combine 
service  in  the  militia  with  attendance  at  the  army  camps. 

The  most  notable  change  in  the  aspect  of  the  University  within 
the  year  has  been  wrought  by  the  completion  of  the  Harry  Elkins 
Widener  Memorial  Library;  but  the  contribution  thereby  made 
to  its  working  power  as  a seat  of  learning  has  not  been  less  signifi- 
cant. During  the  summer,  with  rare  administrative  skill,  the  books 
were  transferred  to  the  new  building  and  re-arranged  upon  the 
shelves,  the  catalogue  improved,  and  the  whole  library  put  into 
working  order.  The  far  greater  ease  and  comfort  in  using  the 
collections  was  reflected  at  once,  both  by  the  larger  number  of 
books  used  in  the  Reading  Room,  and  by  the  larger  number  taken 
from  the  building.  And  yet  the  principal  advance  made  in  the 
new  university  library  has  been  due  to  the  facilities  for  using 
the  books  in  the  stack  itself  by  members  of  the  instructing  staff 
and  advanced  students.  There  are  about  sixty  private  rooms  for 
the  professors  in  immediate  contact  with  the  stacks;  and  the  open 
stalls  in  the  stacks,  with  windows  and  places  for  table  and  chair, 
number  nearly  three  hundred.  Such  an  ample  provision  for  work 
among  the  books  exists  in  no  other  library  in  the  world;  and  the 
relief  from  the  intolerable  conditions  in  Gore  Hall  cannot  be  with- 
out effect  on  the  productiveness  of  our  scholars.  In  the  old  condi- 
tions scholarly  work  was  done  under  grave  difficulties;  but  the 
professors’  rooms  in  the  new  building,  so  apportioned  as  to  be  as 
near  as  possible  to  the  collections  a man  will  chiefly  use,  furnish 


PRODUCTIVE  SCHOLARSHIP 


13 


all  that  a scholar  could  desire.  The  instructing  staff  look  forward 
to,  and  the  friends  of  the  University  expect,  an  era  of  productive- 
ness greater  than  was  possible  when  our  scholars  were  hampered 
by  the  res  angusta  domi. 

But  it  is  not  only  among  the  instructing  staff  that  we  ought  to 
foster  productive  scholarship.  The  habit  of  writing  ought  to  begin 
young;  younger  than  is  usually  the  case  in  America.  Contrary  to 
the  common  impression,  writing  becomes  more  difficult  the  longer 
it  is  put  off.  As  a man  grows  older  he  becomes  more  fastidious, 
more  self-distrustful,  less  ready  to  grapple  with  a large  theme,  less 
ready  to  put  pen  to  paper  until  he  knows  all  about  a subject,  which 
no  one  can  ever  do.  A certain  crudity  of  youth  is  inseparable  from 
early  and  great  productiveness,  and  ought  not  to  be  too  much 
repressed.  It  would  seem  that  American  Graduate  Schools  do 
sometimes,  quite  unintentionally,  repress  it  too  much,  by  pro- 
longing the  period  of  study  too  long.  Real  capacity  for  truly 
productive  work  is  no  doubt  rare  even  among  learned  scholars,  but 
where  it  exists  it  might  perhaps  be  more  encouraged,  and  en- 
couraged younger,  than  it  is  to-day.  Perhaps  fellowships,  like 
those  in  the  English  universities,  or  like  those  in  the  Fondation 
Thiers  in  Paris,  might  be  created  with  good  results.  The  holders 
of  such  fellowships  ought  not  to  be  members  of  any  school,  because 
the  atmosphere  of  a school  is  essentially  that  of  study,  and  the 
atmosphere  of  study  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  production.  The 
fellows  would,  of  course,  be  in  close  contact  with  the  professors, 
and  go  to  them  for  criticism  and  advice;  but  that  is  not  the  same 
thing  as  studying  under  them,  or  working  up  under  their  direction 
a thesis  for  a degree.  It  assumes  that  the  period  of  study  under 
tutelage  has  passed,  and  the  period  of  independent  work  has  begun ; 
and  this  means  a subtle  but  real  change  of  attitude.  It  may  be 
too  early  to  devise  any  plan  of  this  kind,  but  it  seems  to  be  worth 
consideration. 

The  Divinity  School  has  within  the  year  progressed  farther  on 
its  new  path.  In  the  last  report  the  agreement  with  the  Episcopal 
Theological  School  for  better  cooperation,  and  for  the  opening  of 
all  courses  without  charge  to  each  other’s  students,  was  set  forth. 
It  was  pointed  out  that  the  three  affiliated  Schools,  without  in  the 
least  surrendering  their  distinctive  aims  in  training  young  men  for 
the  ministry,  were  all  gainers  by  the  agreement.  During  the  past 


14 


THE  DIVINITY  SCHOOL 


year  the  Theological  School  of  Boston  University  suggested  an 
agreement  similar  to  that  made  with  the  Episcopal  Theological 
School.  The  proposal  was  welcomed  by  the  Faculty  of  Divinity, 
which  necessarily  gave  it,  however,  a somewhat  different  form. 
The  Divinity  Schools  of  Harvard  and  Andover  charge  their  students 
a tuition  fee  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  in  making  the 
new  agreement  the  Episcopal  Theological  School  raised  its  tuition 
fee  to  the  same  point.  But  the  School  of  Boston  University  does 
not  in  practice  charge  such  a fee,  and  therefore  it  would  be  mani- 
festly unjust  to  allow  its  students  to  take  gratuitously  courses  for 
which  the  students  in  the  other  three  Schools  are  obliged  to  pay. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  felt  that  it  would  not  be  unfair  to  admit 
without  charge  students  whose  grade  of  scholarship  is  such  that 
if  they  applied  for  admission  to  our  Divinity  School  they  would 
be  awarded  scholarships  covering  the  tuition.  A grade  of  eighty- 
five  per  cent  in  the  work  of  two  years  in  the  School  of  Boston  Uni- 
versity was  taken  by  mutual  consent  as  a rough  measure  of  such 
standing  and  the  agreement  was  drawn  accordingly.  The  agree- 
ment in  full  will  be  found  in  the  report  of  Dean  Fenn,  in  this 
volume. 

The  agreements  open  to  the  students  of  the  different  schools  all 
the  courses  under  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  as  well  as  those 
under  the  Faculty  of  Divinity;  and  no  doubt  many  of  the  courses 
taken  will  not  be  primarily  designed  for  divinity  students,  but  they 
will  be  on  subjects,  philosophic,  social,  economic  and  historical, 
with  which  the  younger  generation  of  clergymen  feel  a need  of 
being  familiar.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  and  it  is  one  of  the  main 
attractions  of  a connection  with  a great  university  to  the  separate 
divinity  schools  in  its  neighborhood.  Together  with  the  quality  of 
our  own  divinity  staff,  it  has  enabled  our  School  to  take  a position 
as  the  nucleus  for  a system  of  scholarly  instruction  of  a high  grade, 
conducted  with  the  aid  of  a group  of  denominational  institutions. 
This  position  is  the  highest  to  which  a Faculty  of  Divinity  can 
aspire,  and  in  our  case  it  can  be  achieved  without  giving  up  the 
older  function  of  training  young  men  for  ordinary  parish  work. 
The  prospect  has  given  a decided  impulse  to  the  energy  of  the 
School. 

An  important  part  of  the  plan  is  the  administration  of  the  higher 
degree  of  Master  of  Divinity  and  Doctor  of  Theology.  The  qualifi- 


THE  LAW  SCHOOL 


O 


cation  for  these,  as  indeed  is  now  the  case  for  Bachelors  of  Theology, 
is  not  the  completion  of  a fixed  number  of  courses,  but  a general 
examination  upon  a field  of  knowledge  approved  in  advance  by 
the  Faculty,  courses  of  instruction  being  a means  thereto,  not  an 
end  in  themselves.  The  general  examination  has  proved  a satis- 
factory test  of  capacity  and  attainment,  and  the  degrees  so  con- 
ferred have  already  won  a notable  standing.  Two  of  the  three 
men  who  obtained  the  doctor’s  degree  last  June,  and  one  of  the 
two  on  whom  the  master’s  degree  was  conferred,  have  already 
been  appointed  to  full  professorships  in  this  country  or  in  Canada. 

Apart  from  the  grievous  loss  sustained  by  the  death  of  Dean 
Thayer,  there  has  been  little  change  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Law 
School.  The  only  serious  difficulty  under  which  it  labors  is  the 
small  size  of  the  instructing  staff  compared  with  the  large  number 
of  students.  The  ratio  of  professors  to  students  is  less  than  it  was 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  In  1883,  the  School  had  five  professors 
and  165  students,  or  one  instructor  to  29  students;  in  1894-95, 
eight  professors  (with  three  lecturers  giving  special  courses)  and 
353  students,  or  one  full-time  instructor  to  44  students.  Last  year 
it  had  ten’  professors  (with  five  lecturers  giving  special  courses) 
and  730  students,  or  one  full-time  instructor  to  every  73  students; 
and  that  with  a variety  of  courses  that  has  been  much  enlarged. 
One  does  not,  of  course,  expect  to  increase  the  instructing  staff  in 
proportion  to  the  growth  in  students;  but  when  we  remember 
that  the  professors  in  the  Law  School  have  no  assistants,  and  do 
the  whole  work  of  their  courses,  reading  all  the  examination  books 
themselves,  it  is  not  surprising  that  with  so  large  a number  of 
students  they  are  very  hard  worked.  The  fact  is  that  the  School 
has  a comparatively  small  endowment,  more  than  two-thirds  of 
its  revenue  coming  from  tuition  fees.  It  is  hoped  that  before  long 
a larger  endowment  may  be  raised. 

For  the  work  of  the  Medical  School  during  the  past  year  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  report  of  the  Dean.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  reputation  of  the  School  and  of  its  staff  has  been  growing 
steadily  throughout  the  country.  In  its  body  of  instructors  and 
its  connections  within  and  outside  of  the  University  it  has  ele- 
ments of  strength  for  new  fields  of  medicine  that  could,  with 
greater  resources,  be  developed  more  fully  than  anywhere  else  on 
this  continent. 


16 


THE  SURGICAL  UNITS 


To  the  general  public  the  most  interesting  event  during  the  past 
year  has  been  the  work  in  military  hospitals  in  Europe.  Thanks  to 
a gift  by  Mr.  William  Lindsay,  it  was  enabled  to  take  its  turn 
among  the  leading  medical  schools  of  the  United  States  in  provid- 
ing for  three  months,  from  April  1 to  July  1,  the  surgical  staff  of 
the  University  service  in  the  American  Ambulance  (Hospital)  at 
Neuilly-sur-Seine.  This  first  Harvard  Unit,1  as  it  was  called,  went 
under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Harvey  Cushing  as  Surgeon,  and  Dr. 
Robert  B.  Greenough  as  Surgeon  and  Executive  Officer,  and  com- 
prised four  operating-room  nurses. 

Dr.  Richard  P.  Strong,  well  known  for  his  work  on  tropical 
diseases  in  the  Philippines  and  in  South  America,  and  for  his  study 
of  Pneumonic  Plague  in  China,  accompanied  the  Unit  as  Bacteri- 
ologist; but  he  had  hardly  arrived  in  Paris  when  he  was  called 
away  to  take  the  position  of  Director  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
Sanitary  Commission  to  suppress  the  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  in 
Serbia.  In  an  astonishingly  short  time  the  confidence  of  the  Serb- 
ian authorities  was  won,  the  work  organized,  and,  in  spite  of  an 
almost  total  lack  at  the  outset  of  the  ordinary  medical  equipment - 
for  combatting  an  epidemic,  the  disease  was  in  a few  months 
almost  wholly  suppressed. 

While  the  first  Unit  was  in  France  a request  came  from  the 
British  Army  Medical  Service  to  a number  of  American  univer- 
sities for  surgical  units  on  a much  larger  scale  — no  less  than 
thirty-two  surgeons  and  seventy-five  nurses  apiece — to  take  charge 
for  six  months  of  field  hospitals  of  one  thousand  beds.  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  sent  a unit  without  delay.  Representatives  of 
Harvard,  Columbia,  and  Johns  Hopkins  met,  and  being  already 
somewhat  depleted  by  surgical  services  in  Europe,  agreed  to  main- 
tain between  them  a Unit  for  six  months.  Harvard  offered  to  take 
the  first  three  months,  and  Dr.  Edward  H.  Nichols  undertook  to 
recruit  and  lead  the  Unit,  with  Mr.  Herbert  H.  White  as  the 
Business  Manager  in  charge  of  the  preparations.  These  were,  of 
course,  difficult  and  exacting.  In  a very  short  time  an  efficient 
staff  and  nurses  had  to  be  enrolled;  passports,  transportation, 
instruments  and  supplies  procured,  and  money  raised  — for 
although  the  English  Government  furnished  transportation  and 

1 The  names  of  the  members  of  the  staff  of  this  and  subsequent  Harvard 
Units  will  be  found  in  an  appendix  to  this  report. 


THEIR  SERVICE  IN  EUROPE 


17 


uniforms,  with  maintenance  and  daily  pay  at  the  usual  army 
rates,  several  thousand  dollars  were  needed  for  the  instruments, 
for  equipment  and  for  the  transportation  of  surgeons  and  their 
substitutes  who  could  not  remain  the  whole  three  months.  The 
complete  Unit  sailed  on  June  25,  and  was  sent  to  a hospital  in 
France  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sir  Allan  Perry. 

At  the  close  of  the  three  months  it  became  evident  to  the 
British  Government  that  such  a period  was  too  short  to  justify 
the  expense  of  transportation  from  America,  and,  therefore,  the 
contingents  from  Columbia  and  Johns  Hopkins  did  not  go.  But 
some  members  of  the  Harvard  staff,  with  about  half  of  the  nurses, 
volunteered  to  stay  on,  and  there  arose  a strong  desire  to  renew  the 
Unit  if  needed.  The  money  required  was  in  part  given,  in  part 
derived  from  the  proceeds  of  a collection  at  the  Harvard-Yale 
game;  and  a third  Harvard  Unit  was  recruited,  this  time  for  six 
months.  It  sailed  on  November  14,  with  thirty  new  members  of 
the  staff  and  thirty-six  more  nurses,  under  the  lead  of  Dr.  David 
Cheever. 

The  devotion  of  the  surgeons  and  nurses,  their  willingness  to  do 
any  work  that  fell  to  their  lot,  and  their  skill  in  treatment,  has 
done  us  honor.  It  is  gratifying  to  observe  how  few  deaths,  and 
how  few  amputations,  occurred  in  either  of  the  hospitals.  By 
using  to  the  fullest  extent  the  resources  of  antiseptic  surgery, 
almost  all  lives  and  limbs  were  saved.  Above  all,  the  work  of  our 
dentists  — Dr.  Potter  at  Neuilly,  Dr.  Kazanjian  at  the  British 
hospital,  and  their  colleagues  — were  a source  of  admiration. 
Their  ingenuity  in  restoring  jaws  and  teeth  apparently  wholly 
destroyed  excited  surprise  and  wonder  abroad.  Were  it  not  that 
a prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country,  it  would 
be  incomprehensible  that  the  benevolent  public  here  should  leave 
with  so  little  support  a Dental  School  which  is  doing  such  excellent 
work  with  wholly  insufficient  means. 

To  return  to  the  regular  labors  of  the  University.  The  School 
of  Business  Administration  has  increased  in  numbers  and  in  use- 
fulness. A second  chair,  that  of  Transportation,  has  been  en- 
dowed by  friends  of  Mr.  James  J.  Hill  and  worthily  named  after 
him.  To  increase  the  value  of  the  School  in  this  field  he  has  him- 
self given  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  since  the 
opening  of  the  current  academic  year.  Thus  by  three  generous 


18 


THE  BUSINESS  SCHOOL  AND  THE  BUSSEY 


gifts  the  School  is  beginning  to  acquire  the  endowment  it  needs 
for  permanent  maintenance.  Its  methods  of  instruction  are  being 
followed  in  other  institutions,  and  its  forms  of  accounting  adopted 
by  industrial  concerns  — good  evidence  that  it  is  on  the  right  road 
for  the  application  of  economic  science  to  actual  business. 

In  the  last  report  it  was  stated  that  the  work  in  Forestry  had 
been  divided,  instruction  in  Lumbering  being  placed  in  the  School 
for  Business  Administration,  while  research  in  Forestry  is  con- 
ducted in  connection  with  the  Bussey.  This  last  Institution, 
whose  work  consists  wholly  of  research  and  the  instruction  of  a 
few  advanced  students  in  branches  of  zoology  and  botany  that 
touch  agriculture,  has  been  organized  with  a separate  Faculty. 
That  was  essential  both  on  account  of  its  distance  from  Cambridge, 
and  because  the  nature  of  the  subject  requires  one  of  the  two  active 
terms  to  be  held  in  the  summer.  With  the  creation  of  this  Faculty 
the  reorganization  of  the  departments  formerly  under  the  Faculty 
of  Applied  Science  is  completed;  provided  of  course,  the  authority 
of  the  University  to  make  the  agreement  with  the  Institute  of 
Technology  is  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  the 
Commonwealth.  A bill  for  instructions  to  this  effect  has  been 
filed  by  the  Corporation  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  case  will  soon  be 
ready^  for  argument. 

Alongside  of  the  regular  work  of  a university,  conducted  within 
its  walls,  there  has  been  felt  in  all  the  larger  institutions  of  this 
country  a duty  to  instruct  the  public  by  courses  offered  to  persons 
who  can  give  only  a small  part  of  their  time  to  study,  but  who 
desire  to  improve  themselves  in  general  culture  or  in  vocational 
lines.  This  is  done  at  Harvard  under  the  direct  charge  of  a Dean 
and  Administrative  Board,  and  the  reader  who  would  understand 
in  detail  what  has  been  accomplished  is  referred  to  the  report  of 
the  Dean,  printed  herewith.  The  work  is  divided  into  that  of  the 
Summer  School,  and  that  of  the  extension  courses  given  in  term 
time.  The  experiment  of  lodging  and  boarding  members  of  the 
Summer  School  in  the  Freshman  Halls  was  tried  during  the  past 
summer  and  proved  successful.  The  Freshmen  are  obliged  in  the 
nature  of  things  to  leave  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  as  the  furni- 
ture in  their  rooms  is  supplied  by  the  College,  it  is  possible  to  use 
these  halls,  with  their  large  dining  and  common  rooms,  for  other 
purposes  during  the  summer.  To  live  in  these  halls  is  a great 


UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION 


19 


convenience  to  the  summer  students,  and,  what  is  more  important, 
it  gives  them  a feeling  of  academic  community  life  which  they 
cannot  get  in  any  other  way  and  which  they  value  highly. 

Not  less  interesting  is  the  question  of  extension  courses  in  term 
time.  For  a number  of  years,  these  have  been  conducted  by  a 
committee  representing  all  the  institutions  of  higher  learning  in 
and  about  Boston,  with  Dean  Ropes  as  Chairman.  The  committee 
has  not  only  tried  to  discover  what  instruction  the  public  may 
want  and  furnish  it,  but  has  held  itself  ready  to  give  a course  on 
any  subject  of  college  grade  that  any  thirty  persons  in  the  metro- 
politan area,  capable  of  following  it,  will  agree  to  take.  This  seems 
as  liberal  a use  for  the  public  benefit  of  the  resources  of  our  insti- 
tutions of  learning  as  it  is  possible  to  make.  No  state  institution 
could  carry  university  extension  further  by  direct  teaching,  and 
there  can  be  no  question  that  direct  teaching  in  the  class-room 
where  it  is  possible  — as  it  is  in  the  metropolitan  area  — is  far 
superior  to  any  method  of  instruction  by  correspondence.  In 
many  cities  where  extension  work  is  carried  on,  the  number  of 
persons  registered  in  the  courses  is  large,  while  the  proportion  who 
obtain  a certificate  by  completing  the  work  in  the  course  and  taking 
the  examinations  is  very  small.  It  is  notable  in  the  report  of  the 
Dean  that  the  percentage  of  certificates  here  is  relatively  large, 
and  it  is  chiefly  by  these  that  the  substantial  popular  education 
given  by  the  courses  is  to  be  measured. 

By  means  of  this  committee,  representing  the  various  institutions 
of  higher  learning  in  this  neighborhood,  extension  work  appears  to 
be  satisfactorily  done  for  the  metropolitan  area.  But  it  ought  to 
be  extended  so  far  as  possible  over  the  whole  State,  and  for  that 
purpose  during  the  past  year  the  University  Council  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  formed  of  representatives  from  all  the  colleges  of  the 
State,  acting  in  concert  with  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. The  problem  of  the  rural  districts  is  more  difficult 
than  that  of  the  large  cities  because  people  are  more  scattered; 
nevertheless,  the  endowed  colleges  of  Massachusetts  ought  to  be 
able#  to  give  her  people  as  much  instruction  as  a state  university 
can  in  the  West  — and  more,  because  Massachusetts  has  become 
largely  a group  of  cities.  Much  has  already  been  done  by  Wil- 
liams College  at  North  Adams,  by  other  colleges  in  other  places; 
and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  popular  education  will 


THE  TUITION  FEE 


20 

be  as  well  promoted  by  the  University  Council  acting  in  concert 
with  the  State  Board,  as  by  any  state  university  in  the  country. 
The  endowed  institutions  realize  fully  that  their  obligations  to  the 
public  are  none  the  less  because  they  are  not  managed  by  the 
State. 

Besides  the  Widener  Library,  the  Cruft  High  Tension  Labora- 
tory has  been  completed,  and  the  Music  Building  has  been  occu- 
pied. Music,  indeed,  forms,  as  it  ought,  an  increasingly  important 
part  of  the  work  of  the  University.  A few  more  buildings  are  still 
needed,  such  as  a fourth  Freshman  dormitory,  a better  'place  to 
house  the  University  Press,  and,  above  all,  more  chemical  labora- 
tories. Chemistry  is  of  increasing  importance  in  this  country, 
and  the  war  has  shown  us  the  need  of  independence  of  German 
chemists. 

But  apart  from  these  things,  the  greatest  need  of  the  University 
is  endowment  rather  than  buildings.  In  the  last  report  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  only  resource  for  avoiding  the  deficits  that 
had  been  chronic  in  the  College,  University  and  Library  accounts 
is  an  increase  in  the  tuition  fee.  The  Faculty  referred  this  matter 
to  a committee  which,  with  the  utmost  reluctance,  reported  that 
the  increase  was  a necessity.  The  report  was  adopted  by  the 
Faculty  and  was  acted  upon  by  the  Governing  Boards,  so  that 
hereafter  the  tuition  fee  in  Harvard  College,  the  Graduate  School 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,  the  Graduate  School  of  Business  Administra- 
tion, the  Schools  of  Architecture  and  Landscape  Architecture  and 
the  Bussey  Institution,  will  be  $200.  At  the  same  time  the  special 
fee  for  the  Stillman  Infirmary,  and  all  laboratory  and  gradua- 
tion fees  will  cease  to  be  charged  to  students  paying  the  full  fee. 
In  the  Medical  School  the  fee  is  already  $200;  in  the  Engineering 
School,  under  the  agreement  with  Technology,  it  is  $250.  The 
Divinity  School  felt  compelled  to  retain  the  fee  of  $150,  because 
by  the  recent  agreements  with  Andover  Theological  Seminary  and 
the  Episcopal  Theological  School,  their  fees  had  been  raised  to 
that  point.  The  Faculty  of  the  Law  School  was  reluctant  to  raise 
its  fee  at  present.  In  order  to  avoid  any  question  of  the  possible 
injustice  to  students  who  had  already  entered,  or  even  committed 
themselves  by  their  preparation  to  enter,  Harvard,  the  increased 
fee  is  to  take  effect  only  for  students  entering  these  various  depart- 
ments in  the  academic  year  1916-17;  and  in  order  not  to  make 


GIFTS.  — LOSSES  BY  DEATH 


21 


more  difficult  the  path  of  the  students  with  very  limited  means,  it 
has  been  arranged  also  that  the  scholarships  awarded  for  excellence 
in  University  work  should  be  increased  by  $50  each. 

The  largest  single  gifts  of  money  received  during  the  year  have 
been  as  follows:  — 

James  J.  Hill  Professorship  of  Transportation  $125,000.00 


The  Class  of  1890  Fund: 

Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  Fund 80,000.00 

The  Matchett  Fund: 

The  Estate  of  Sarah  A.  Matchett 50,000.00 

Morrill  Wyman  Estate 50,533.32 

John  B.  and  Buckminster  Brown  Professor- 
ship of  Orthopedic  Surgery: 

Buckminster  Brown  Estate 25,645.92 

From  the  Trustees  under  the  will  of  Philip 
C.  Lockwood: 

For  the  Cancer  Commission 50,000.00 

Francis  Skinner  (Sr.)  Estate: 

Residuary  bequest 43,148.94 

Morrill  Wyman  Medical  Research  Fund  ....  25,000.00 

George  R.  Agassiz: 

Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology 25,000.00 

Mrs.  Adolphus  Busch: 

For  the  completion  of  the  Germanic  Museum . . 56,600.00 


During  the  past  year  the  University  has  suffered  a grievous  loss 
in  the  death  of  Ezra  Ripley  Thayer,  Dane  Professor  of  Law  and 
Dean  of  the  Law  School.  In  middle  life,  he  abandoned,  in  1910,  a 
large  practice  at  the  bar  to  become  head  of  the  School,  and  to 
continue  his  service  here  he  declined  a place  on  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  Commonwealth  which  had  been  the  ambition  of  his  life. 
Colleagues  and  students  trusted  him  as  a leader,  were  stimulated 
by  his  presence,  and  feel  his  death  as  a personal  bereavement  of 
no  common  kind.  The  Medical  School  lost  Dr.  Charles  Sedgwick 
Minot,  James  Stillman  Professor  of  Comparative  Anatomy,  who 
died  almost  at  the  opening  of  the  academic  year.  His  eminence 
was  one  of  the  glories  of  the  School.  Murray  Anthony  Potter, 
Assistant  Professor  of  Romance  Languages,  died  in  May,  cut  off 
in  the  middle  of  his  second  term  as  assistant  professor.  He  had 
been  an  honored  member  of  the  staff  in  the  department  for  four- 
teen years.  Four  professors  emeriti  have  also  died,  — John  Chip- 
man  Gray,  the  last  of  the  great  figures  that  made  the  reputation 
of  the  Law  School  in  the  last  forty  years;  Frederick  Ward 


RESIGNATIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 


22 

Putnam,  to  whose  exertions  we  owe  the  growth  of  the  Peabody 
Museum  and  who,  as  Director  Emeritus , virtually  guided  it  until 
his  death;  Francis  Humphreys  Storer,  Professor  of  Agricultural 
Chemistry  and  Dean  of  the  Bussey  Institution  for  over  a quarter 
of  a century  until  1907,  died  in  July,  1914;  John  Hildreth  McCol- 
lom,  Professor  of  Contagious  Diseases,  died  in  June,  1915,  only  two 
years  after  completing  a service  of  seventeen  years  in  the  Medical 
School. 

The  only  losses  of  full  professors  by  resignation  have  been  those 
of  Eugene  Joseph  Armand  Duquesne,  Professor  of  Architectural 
Design,  who  was  summoned  to  France  as  a reservist,  but  resigned 
permanently,  intending  after  the  war  to  teach  and  practice  archi- 
tecture in  Paris;  Dr.  Charles  Montraville  Green,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics  and  Gynaecology,  who  retired  after  a long  and  faithful 
service  in  teaching  the  subject  without  a break  since  1886;  and 
Dr.  Theobald  Smith,  who  left  to  take  charge  of  the  new  Rocke- 
feller Institute  of  Comparative  Pathology.  Deeply  as  we  regret 
his  departure  no  one  has  a right  to  lament  his  taking  a place  with 
opportunities  for  research  far  greater  than  any  medical  school 
could  provide. 

Eight  assistant  professors  have  been  appointed  to  professors’ 
chairs:  Gregory  Paul  Baxter  became  Professor  of  Chemistry; 
Austin  Wakeman  Scott,  Professor  of  Law;  John  Lovett  Morse, 
Professor  of  Pediatrics;  Charles  Henry  White,  Professor  of  Min- 
ing and  Metallurgy;  Edward  Vermilye  Huntington,  Associate 
Professor  of  Mathematics;  John  Warren,  Associate  Professor  of 
Anatomy;  Frederic  Thomas  Lewis,  Associate  Professor  of  Embry- 
ology; and  John  Lewis  Bremer,  Associate  Professor  of  Histology. 

By  the  desire  of  the  Prussian  government  the  exchange  of  pro- 
fessors with  Berlin  has  been  discontinued  during  the  war;  but  the 
exchange  with  France  has  been,  and  will  be,  maintained.  We  sent 
there  Professor  William  Allan  Neilson  of  the  Department  of  Eng- 
lish, and  received  in  return  Henri  Lichtenberger,  Professor  of 
German  Language  and  Literature  at  the  Sorbonne.  To  the  five 
Western  exchange  colleges  we  sent  Lawrence  Joseph  Henderson, 
Assistant  Professor  of  Biological  Chemistry;  while  there  came  to 
Cambridge,  from  Knox  College,  William  Edward  Simonds,  Pro- 
fessor of  English,  and  from  Colorado  College,  James  Williams 
Park,  Assistant  Professor  of  Education.  We  were  fortunate  in 


PROFESSORS  FROM  LOUVAIN 


23 


having  Professor  Anesaki  of  the  University  of  Tokyo  remain 
another  year  as  the  Professor  of  Japanese  Literature  and  Life. 

The  destruction  of  their  city  cast  many  of  the  distinguished 
professors  of  the  University  of  Louvain  adrift,  two  of  whom  we 
were  able  to  bring  to  Harvard  for  the  second  half-year.  They  were 
Professor  Leon  Dupriez,  who  gave  courses  in  the  Civil  Law  and 
Parliamentary  Government;  and  Charles  Jean  de  la  Vallee  Pous- 
sin, Professor  of  Mathematics. 

In  this  report  it  has  been  possible  only  to  touch  briefly  upon 
some  of  the  topics  of  more  general  interest,  and  to  the  reports  of 
the  various  Deans  and  Directors  the  friends  of  the  University  are 
referred.  Many  of  them  will  find  it  encouraging  to  read  the 
remarks  of  Professor  Fisher  about  the  condition  of  the  trees  in 
the  College  Yard. 


A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL,  President. 


3 


121 


05725920 


APPENDIX 

THE  SURGICAL  STAFFS  OF  THE  HARVARD  UNITS 


American  Ambulance  Hospital 

Dr.  Harvey  Cushing,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Robert  B.  Greenough,  Surgeon  and 
Executive  Officer. 

Dr.  Richard  P.  Strong,  Bacteriologist. 

Dr.  Robert  B.  Osgood,  Orthopedic  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Beth  Vincent,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Walter  M.  Boothby,  Anaesthetist. 

Dr.  Frederick  A.  Coller,  Resident  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Elliott  C.  Cutler,  Resident  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Philip  D.  Wilson,  Resident  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Marius  N.  Smith-Petersen,  Resident 
Surgeon. 

Dr.  Lyman  G.  Barton,  Jr.,  Surgical  Assistant. 
Dr.  Orville  F.  Rogers,  Jr.,  Medical  Assistant. 
Dr.  George  Benet,  Laboratory  Assistant. 

First  Harvard  Unit 

Dr.  Edward  H.  Nichols,  Surgeon,  in  charge. 
Dr.  Charles  A.  Porter,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  William  E.  Faulkner,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Harris  P.  Mosher,  Oral  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Fred  B.  Lund,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Alexander  Quackenboss,  Ophthalmol- 
ogist. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  S.  Hunting,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Roger  I.  Lee,  Physician. 

Dr.  Harry  F.  Hartwell,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Robert  II.  Vose,  Orthopedic  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Daniel  B.  Reardon,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Byron  P.  Stookey,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Frederick  A.  Coller,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Russell  P.  Borden,  Genito-Urinary  Sur- 
geon. 

Dr.  Allen  Greenwood,  Ophthalmologist. 

Dr.  Harold  M.  Frost,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Walter  M.  Lacey,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Peirce  H.  Leavitt,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  George  W.  Bachman,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Harold  M.  Goodwin,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Robert  R.  Sattler,  Physician. 

Dr.  Walter  A.  Lane,  Physician. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Bressler,  Physician. 

Dr.  Paul  Withington,  Physician. 

Dr.  William  E.  Hunter,  Physician. 

Dr.  Albert  A.  Barrows,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Harold  G.  Tobey,  Surgeon. 


Dr.  Frank  W.  Snow,  Physician. 

Dr.  Walter  J.  Dodd,  Roentgenologist. 

Dr.  Varaztad  H.  Kazanjian,  Dental  Sur- 
geon. 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Brigham,  Dental  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Frank  H.  Cushman,  Dental  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Richard  S.  Austin,  Bacteriologist. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Hopkins,  Dentist. 

Dr.  John  J.  Thomas,  Physician. 

Dr.  Edward  P.  Richardson,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Donald  B.  Steenburg,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Channing  C.  Simmons,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Francis  R.  Fraser,  Bacteriologist. 

Second  Harvard  Unit 

Dr.  David  Cheever,  Chief  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Edward  B.  Towne,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Wilfred  T.  Grenfell,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Lawrence  R.  Hill,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  John  L.  Bremer,  Bacteriologist. 

Dr.  Ernest  T.  F.  Richards,  Physician. 
Dr.  Francis  R.  Fraser,  Pathologist. 

Dr.  George  Osgood,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Winford  0.  Wilder,  Physician. 

Dr.  George  Benet,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  A.  Gale  Straw’,  Roentgenologist. 

Dr.  Macy  Brooks,  Physician  and  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Eben  W.  Fiske,  Orthopedist. 

Dr.  William  D.  Jack,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Hugh  R.  McNair,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  John  F.  Dillon,  Dentist. 

Dr.  Armond  A.  Halliday,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Frank  A.  Smith,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Samuel  H.  Kagan,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Charles  T.  Porter,  Ophthalmologist. 
Dr.  Abram  L.  Van  Meter,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Frederick  B.  Abbott,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Charles  F.  MacDonald,  Jr.,  Dentist. 
Dr.  Robert  S.  Catheron,  Dentist. 

Dr.  Bronson  Crothers,  Physician. 

Dr.  James  F.  Faulkner,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  John  C.  Phillips,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Everett  0.  Thomas,  Physician. 

Dr.  Leo  T.  Kewer,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Rolf  C.  Norris,  Surgeon. 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Brigham,  Dental  Surgeon. 
Dr.  Varaztad  H.  Kazanjian,  Dental  “ 

Dr.  Frank  H.  Cushman,  Dental  Surgeon. 


